Well I have to admit that I put the Fball down on Tuesday night on Jackson in St. Paul, just right in front of Regions Hospital. The pavement there is really smooth from all of the junkers rolling through St. Paul.

It was very dramatic and fast. I was coming up to the light doing about 35 indicated, and applied the back brake and the front brake, not hard, really, when the back brake totally grabed and locked the back wheel. Squel city and I did a large sideways slide, of which I tried to correct but no luck. Well anyways the tires stopped sliding and caught some good pavement and I did the old superman act and landed on my left shoulder and bounced a couple of times... I was wearing my helmet and my head didn't even hit the pavement......

No real injures, just a small scuff on the left arm about 1/2 inch round and a smashed thumb nail. (How did that happen?). The Stella is kinda messed up, but not too bad. I didn't even bend the leg shield... just the trim, front cowl and non-engine side cowl...... All in all, at least I wasn't hurt! Bikes can be fixed, people are harder.

It seems like there have been a lot of crashes lately, but maybe it is just because we hear about it now (or in Josh's case, catch it on film). The three old scooters I've purchased were all pretty trashed when I got them. They had to have been banged up and scratched somehow.

I think I'm the only one that has crashed pushing a scooter that wasn't actually running lately though. Think about that, it will make you feel good about yourself!

even though it's a drag that it seems like there's been a lot of accidents for people on the bbs this summer compared with past seasons, i'm glad people are posting and telling the stories. it's good for everyone to be reminded about safety issues, and i think there are good lessons in the stories about dealing with sh*t out on the streets.

it's good to zip around and have fun, but it's also good to have a healthy respect for the realities and dangers that exist out there.

Yeah, the MSF class definitely helps - beats into you the things you know but don't worry much about - for example, that not only should you not brake in a turn, but you really shouldn't coast in a turn either - slowly roll on the throttle to keep control through the turn. And always look to the end of the curve, not at the road in front of you (that one has *really* helped my riding).

At the same time, I have three concerns with the MSF class:
(1) it's important to remember that our vehicles have some different issues than even the smallest motorcycles, due to the size of our wheels, the different weight characteristics, and the nature of our interaction with traffic (rarely do we have power to get out when things go bad).
(2) The whole class is done in first and second gear, with only occasional jaunts above 20mph. As such, many of the lessons learned, though applicable at higher (normal) speeds, are not very useful practice for real-life situations. This leads to a false sense of security and preparedness.
(3) All the exercises are synthetic - you don't really practice emergency stopping, you practice learning how to stop as hard as possible within as few feet as possible of a specific line. You don't learn to swerve to avoid a road hazard, you learn to ride down a channel and swerve around cones. It's some of the same skills, but again, it leads to false sense of security.

I had already ridden 1,000 miles when I took the MSF class, and I've ridden 800 miles since. I'm glad I did it - it was a lot of fun, I learned to shift with my foot, and I got my endorsement - but I'm not convinced it's really going to help you keep your bike upright when the cell-phone-talking hummer-driving soccer mom decides to turn into your lane.

That said, everyone should take an MSF class - it can't hurt, and it might help. Just don't let it lull you into thinking you know what you're doing!

Thanks for all of your support! I am going to have "Stella" looked at by the guys at scooterville. I think the drum roundness played a big part in the crash as I barely touched it, I believe. Ride safe!!!!

In the MSF course they discuss precisely your crash situation. What they recommend is that if your rear tire locks up and you slide out, that you do not release the rear brake, but keep on it hard and try to skid all the way to a stop. If you release pressure, the rear tire will regain traction, but you will probably be pointed in the wrong direction when it does, and you will be "high sided", that is, flipped into the air when the bike violently snaps up, straightens out, etc.
This sounds exactly like what happened to you. In your situation, if you had kept on the rear brake would you have been able to ride it out to a dead stop with out going down? Were there any cars close behind?

I don't know if I could have rode it out as they have suggested. I was sliding sideways at aprox 20-25 mph on the steet. Like 90 degrees sideways. I guess that as soon as I slowed down with or without brake I would have caught and flew off anyways.....

Maybe if it was icey or raining, I could see riding it out.... I don't know, really...